Decisions
by Lady Maria
Summary: First in my Hunter series; prequel to Go rest high on that mountain. What happened that summer after Buffy was Called? Ever heard of the term, opposites attract? Well, they're polar opposites alright.


_A/N: I don't own the WWE or BtVS. However, the concept of the Hunters is all my own._

_This is the first story in my Hunter series; Go rest high on that mountain is the second. This will be a story arc of four stories, possibly wrapping up in five.  Please review this one and my first one._

**Don't just go from one nest to the next**

**Mama said to me**

Until she was fifteen, Buffy Summers knew exactly what would happen during the course of her life. 

She would be a Hunter, as she had been since the age of eight.  After high school, she'd go to college, hopefully meet a hot guy who _wasn't related to her, and then eventually get married. She would train her children to be Hunters, as her mother had before her…and sometime in the future, she would die in the line of duty._

When she was fifteen, however, Fate threw her a curveball in the form of a man named Merrick.  He told her that he was her Watcher and effectively shattered her dreams.  After all, she wasn't a fool.  

Vampire Slayers had only their strength, speed, and natural prowess with weapons to rely on.  They didn't have support systems, and their Watchers interfering on their Slayer's behalf was unheard of. Vampire Slayers had consistently died before their 25th birthday for countless millennia. 

To top off her annoyance, for the first couple of weeks the traits of the Slayer messed up her innate Hunter magic.  She'd always been able to call on her deep well of magic, and without it she felt so naked. So vulnerable to attack.

**It's not where you go or where you left.**

**It's the flying in - between.**

After the first couple of weeks, after she burnt her gym to the ground, and lost her Watcher to a vampire, her magic started working with the Slayer skills. Of course, Buffy was also finally realizing that she had to tell her mother what was going on. Luckily, their family was open-minded about demons and whatnot.

Joyce, with the common sense born from years of Hunting, knew exactly what to say.  "Buffy, it's time for you to see more of this country. Your uncles have been bugging me to let you go on the road with them, and I think you should."

"But Mom," her daughter's eyes were wide with fear, "I don't know anyone other than Uncle Glenn and Uncle Mark. And all of this is going on too."

"Sweetie, Stephanie and Shane will be on the road with their parents. And you've met them on slaughters."

"Still, won't the Council want me to continue with my destiny or something?" Buffy's voice was full of hopelessness and desperation. "Mom," her voice broke, "I want to be me again, Mom. I wanna be a Hunter and not the Slayer."

Joyce's eyes were full of compassion. "That's why I'm sending you to your uncles for the summer.  Then you and I are moving to the Hellmouth."

"Are you insane?" her daughter asked, eyes full of laughter again.

"Quite possibly. Quite possibly."

**She said be sure to touch the sky**

**Don't put your dreams up on a shelf**

Stephanie McMahon looked around for her parents. Every summer it was the same old shit, the eighteen year old thought with a groan. She'd come back from boarding school, fly into whatever airport was closest to the arena the company was at, and then wait for at least half an hour because her parents would forget that she was coming. One would think that after eight years, they'd remember already. But no, they had to forget!

On her second visual scan of the airport, she saw a familiar figure.  The girl was deceptively tiny and harmless looking.  Steph knew how dangerous the girl really was, after having participated in a slaughter with her once.  Slaughters were what demon Hunters called the mass extermination of all demons in one place. They were quite fun for the Hunters, gory to anyone else. "Hey Buffy!"

Buffy's head whipped around to find the person who'd called her name. "Steph! You're here!" 

"Why wouldn't I be?" Stephanie surveyed the younger girl carefully. "What's up with your clan that you're here?"

"I was Called." 

"Called?" her fellow Hunter asked. "What would you getting a phone call have to do with anything…Buffy Anne Summers of the Callas Clan tell me that you didn't mean what I think you did!"

"I was Called as a Vampire Slayer," the blonde confirmed. "And would you refrain from using the full, complete name?

"The situation warranted it," Steph shrugged, pulling Buffy over to a seat. "But why and how did a Hunter end up as the Slayer? It's unheard of, girl. We're pretty much separate from normal humans to begin with, so how did you end up as the Slayer?"

"I have no idea. But you know what's really weird?"

"No, what's weird?"

"They didn't know that I was a Hunter."

As Buffy's words filtered into the jetlagged brunette's consciousness, Steph's eyes widened in shock. "And here I thought that they were all knowing."

"Guess even the powerful Council fucks up every now and again," Buffy grinned. Eyes scanning the crowd, her face lit up. "Look, there's Uncle Mark and your brother."

"Oh, goody. Well at least we've only been left for a grand total of twenty-five minutes this time."

"You have a really weird relationship with your folks."

"Of which I'm quite aware." 

**Right now you're lost inside his eyes**

**I made the same myself. Oooh.**

Christian watched as the petite blonde slipped into the room after Mark, making a beeline towards the other Brother of Destruction. Vince looked slightly surprised to see her, but it was obvious that he knew her at least.  Linda, sitting next to her husband, gave the girl a wave.

Vince had finished wrapping up the longwinded speech he'd been giving, Christian noticed.  Thank Heaven. And then he promptly groaned because Vince had opened his mouth again.

"Mark, Glenn," Vince began sternly, "is there a reason why I didn't know your niece was coming?"

"That's simple, Vince." Buffy was letting her evil cheerleader side out again. "My mom specifically asked that you not be told. I think that she said something about revenge for that stunt you pulled in Albany, two years ago."

Linda chuckled. "She's correct, dear. You should never have messed with Joyce.  I told you it would come back to bite you in the ass."

"She's so right, Dad." Twenty-three year old Shane got in on the ribbing. "Even I know better than to mess with any of the Callas clan and I haven't known them for three decades."

"I've known them for almost all of the 48 years that I've been alive," his father corrected with a groan.

"And you still don't know not to piss us off?" Buffy asked with a grin. "Vince, you are so fucked up."

"Buffy!" Glenn reprimanded her. "You're too young to use that sort of language!"

"I'm fifteen, Uncle Glenn. Not eight," she told him dryly.

Christian could only gape at her, this spitfire who was so young and so old at the same time.

She looked over at him, curiosity in her heart. He hadn't been here four years ago when she'd last visited.  So Buffy wasn't certain who he was since she didn't regularly watch the WWF.  However, she_ was_ extremely aware of her heart flipping over in her throat.

**Am I in love?**

**Am I too young?**

**I know my life has just begun.**

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered to her reflection in the mirror.  "I don't get caught up in guys' eyes.  Not even in Pike's and I lost my virginity to him!"

"They say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." Steph's voice came from behind her.

"And crazy I might be," Buffy groaned. Suddenly realizing that she'd locked the bathroom door, the younger girl whirled on the older. "How the fuck did you get in here?!"

Holding up a lock pick, she said simply, "You wouldn't believe what a girl can learn by hanging out with the guys from another boarding school."

"I can't believe you picked the lock of my bathroom door. What if I'd actually been going to the bathroom?"

At least Stephanie had the grace to blush. "I hoped and prayed to every deity I could think of that you weren't."

"Only you," Buffy snickered.

"Well, what's wrong?" Steph got down to business rather quickly.

"I got lost in a guy's eyes."

"You have a crush?" The older Hunter had to laugh at the expression on Buffy's face.  The cross between disgust, annoyance, and lust was just too funny.

"I had a crush on Pike," she corrected. "This is like head over heels in lust. Maybe some would say that it is love at first sight or some other bullshit but I don't believe in such foolishness."

"It worked to a certain extent for my parents," Steph shrugged.

"Because they are like most of the clans in their view of love," Buffy told her. "But I don't know if I can deal with a non-monogamous relationship."

The other girl chuckled. "Now's one of those times when it's so easy to see that you aren't the result of two Hunters mating."

"Neither are you; your mother just adapted easier than my father."

"That's true. Now can we go to dinner already?"

"Alright."

**Does he set me free?**

**Or put me in chains?**

Shane couldn't help but see Christian's interest in Buffy, and mentally groaned. While it was rare for Shane to be protective of Hunters outside of his clan, it was different with Buffy. She looked young and innocent while acting jaded. No one was even certain whether she was jaded or not.

Shane simply knew that a relationship between Christian and Buffy would be bad news.  Christian wouldn't understand their world; hell, he would bolt at the first sign of trouble.  And he'd still have to endure him after the relationship fell apart.

Spying his sister up ahead, he jerked his head towards Christian.

Her eyes were somber as she nodded. Coming over next to him, Steph sighed. "I know it can only end badly, but I can't help knowing that she's happy. And she ain't been happy for a while."

"I know." They'd gotten together after the meeting to discuss why she was there. The four members of the Mai Clan and the three members of the Callas Clan had had a long talk, ending with the decision that Buffy would start wrestling the following show.

"It's going to end bad, bro, but just let her be happy for a little bit." 

"She deserves more than an early death and the father she got," Shane whispered.  "At the very least, she deserves love."

"Let's only hope that Christian won't hurt her," Stephanie finished his thought.

**When did my life get rearranged?**

**Do I hold on? Do I let go?**

"Okay, so let's go over the game plan one last time," Mark told his niece. "I will be fighting Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Austin will start to chokeslam me, at which time you'll come out."

"And I'll put him through the table," Buffy nodded, "and announce that no one messes with my family the way he did, cuz this Daughter of Destruction follows in her father's footsteps."

"Then you'll call me Uncle Taker," Mark continued, "cementing the idea that you're Kane's daughter.  I'll ask you why you came back when you've gone for so long."

"And I'll answer that no matter how pissed off I am at my father, I just can't stand by and let someone fuck with my family the way Austin has been."

"And then we'll walk out of the ring," her uncle said.

"At which time the cameras will catch our 'reunion'," her other uncle commented dryly.

"I think we've got this thing down pat," she grinned.  "Look out world!"

"Because here comes trouble," Glenn and Mark finished their sister's favorite comment for anything involving the three of them.

"You're on." Stephanie came rushing in. "Kick ass. Just kick ass."

"Will do," her friend reassured her.

**I know I can't escape tomorrow.**

**Do I live for him? Or live for today?**

**Suddenly the sky looks far away.**

Buffy had been with the company for nearly two months.  Stephanie stared out the hotel window, not really seeing the lights of Vegas below her. Other than Christian, Buffy, and herself, the company was out on the town.

The current bet was that the two 'lovebirds', Buffy and Christian, would probably elope while they were here.  The thought brought a ghost of a smile to her lips.  Those two wouldn't be getting married any time soon, on that she was positive. If they did, it sure as hell wouldn't be completely legal.

None of the Clans would dispute a girl over thirteen getting married, but this was America.  And in America, girls were supposed to be at least 18 when they got married or their parents could give permission for them to marry. 

And Joyce and Hank wouldn't give permission unless hell was freezing over. Hank wouldn't because he didn't believe in the Hunter ways. And Joyce had been trying from the time Buffy 'came of age', according to Hunter tradition, to make certain that her daughter didn't get married young, the way she herself had.

Steph didn't want her friend getting married young either.  She was little more than a baby, despite what the Clan Elders thought and susceptible to one hell of a broken heart. 

**I can see the wheels turn in his mind.**

**The way he looks at me.**

**He says our kids will have my eyes.**

**And what a mother I would be.**

**Does this all have to move so fast?**

**Can't I just take it day by day?**

**Am I building something that will last?**

**Or am I just running away?**

"I love you, Buffy."

She barely shuddered, gritting her teeth against the sharp reply.  Finally forcing it out, she smiled tightly. "I love you too, Christian."

"You'd be a good mother."

"I suppose," she shrugged.  "But I've got time to plan for children.  I can't see myself getting married soon."

"That's too bad, darling," the Canadian sighed. Dropping down on one knee, he stared up at her. "Buffy Summers, would you do me the honor of agreeing to be my wife?"

She could only stare in silent horror before coming to her senses. "I have to think about it, but it's a strong possibility."  Turning on her heel, she walked back toward the hotel they were staying at.  She couldn't help but wonder if Las Vegas was getting to his brain.

**Do I wanna go from being**

**Somebody's daughter to**

**Somebody's wife to**

**Somebody's mother**

**I need my own life.**

Staring vacantly out the plane window, Buffy mused.

Christian wanted her to marry him, and the Elders of the Clans would approve of her brining such a warrior into the fold.  But there was something about him that made her wary of telling him of such things.  If she didn't tell him, and still married him, she could make it work. There were others who had made it work, like Cathryn Madison. But then again, Cathy had eventually gone mad from hiding what she was.

Buffy knew that she was stronger than Cathy though.  She could grow older, still attending slaughters, still hiding her life from him.  And she could raise happy children, children that would only see their daddy when he came off of the road long enough, but happy children anyway.

Or she could tell him now, shattering any innocence still left in him.  She could have a relationship where she didn't have to hide anything.  They could be equals, like Linda and Vince.  Hopefully, with the whole monogamous thing though, since she couldn't help but want her man for herself. 

But their cultures were so vastly different.  She had been raised in a culture that viewed women as completely grown by 13, ready to marry men at least twice their age.  He had grown up in a country and society that viewed men and women as equals, mature at the same time, rarely married before 18. Her culture thought nothing of more than one wife or having affairs during the marriage. 

They could make it work, Buffy knew, but she wanted time to live her own life.  She wanted time to grow up before changing her name.  And if she did get married, she didn't want to just rush into having children. 

**I thought my mother's life turned out as planned**

**But I never knew.**

**Now that I'm grown I understand.**

**All the things she longed to do.**

Her mother had married at sixteen, an old maid by Hunter standards.  Joyce didn't want to wed anyone, much less an outsider.  But her father promised her to one of his friends' son, not caring what she thought of her betrothed. 

Hank was twenty-six, and already moving through the ranks of his law firm.  However, to advance much further, he needed a society wife, and a friend of his father's had a daughter looking to marry.  She would make a nice hostess, and she was easy on the eyes to boot. As far as he was concerned, it was a marriage made in heaven.

As far as Joyce was concerned, she wished she was like her classmates.  They could choose their mates, as well as when they would marry.  Their parents wouldn't factor into the relationship, and they at least had a chance of marrying for love.

She had conceived Hank's "heir" on the honeymoon, and given birth just days after her seventeenth birthday.   The tiny girls wouldn't be her only children, the Hunter knew.  Even if Hank never wanted another child, she would be forced to have a pure-blooded Hunter as well.  That was another of those traditions that she hated.

Then when Celia and Buffy were around six months old, Hank gave his wife an ultimatum: she would get rid of one of the girls or he would kill her.  Joyce had wanted to laugh at the irony.  She had been raised to be a dutiful wife: she would have gotten rid of one of her precious babies if he had simply ordered it.  He needn't have to threaten her at all.

So she took Celia to her older brother and begged him to keep the tiny girl and raise her as his own.  His wife was barren, so they had never had the many children that they dreamed of. Michael hadn't understood how Hank could get rid of a child, when they were so precious in the eyes of any Hunter, but he _had _understood how his little sister could carry out her husband's orders.

The twins had grown up as best friends, identical cousins. They could guess the real story, especially after Dawn was born and Hank nearly killed her for being a girl.  But Joyce wouldn't leave him. Even though she'd never loved him, he was still her husband.

Then tragedy struck.  Celia ended up in the hospital with what appeared to be a severe strand of the flu.  At seven, Buffy couldn't really understand what was happening, but she sure as hell knew that she didn't like it. Celia had nearly died in that hospital because of a demon that had targeted the young Hunter and when she was released, Michael and Noreen had already said their goodbyes to their daughter's biological family.

They were leaving the ways of the Hunters, leaving the way they'd grown up. They wanted Celia to be safe, and she wouldn't be for as long as they stayed around L.A. and other Hunters.

Over the years, Joyce's remaining daughters had forgotten about Celia.  Not entirely perhaps, but Dawn at least recalled very little about her. But a mother can never forget no matter how much she tries.

**I've got to make it on my own.**

**But I just can't leave him behind.**

**So do I risk being alone**

**What is it I'm trying to find?**

Reflecting on her twin sister and her mother's story, Buffy closed the old diary.  It talked of how her mother hadn't wanted to marry her father.  It even talked of how she'd undergone years of abuse simply because she didn't know to fight back.

She knew that not that many Hunter women grew up in homes like hers.  However, that was because not many Hunter men would think of harming a woman, even if she was essentially his property.  The times changed though, and Hunters started to intermarry with normals, with people who didn't know the truth about the night.

And some of those normals took advantage of the culture that the girls grew up in.  They hurt them, and shattered their fragile trust. 

If anything, that was her biggest reason for not feeling certain about accepting Christian's proposal.  Sure, she wanted to be older when she married but….She didn't want a relationship like her mother's.

She stared back out the window, still musing over the idea of marrying the older wrestler.

**Am I in love? Am I too young?**

**I know my life has just begun.**

**Does he set me free, or put me in chains?**

**When did my life get rearranged?**

"Steph, I really do love him."

"I know you do," she sighed, "but maybe you're meant to grow and change and fall in love with someone else. What do I know about love anyway?"

"Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not." Buffy grinned. "But either way, you know I'll be back no matter what."

"I know."

Both grew silent for a minute before the older one spoke up again. "Buff, I don't know. Maybe it is a forever type of thing.  If you were anyone else, I'd tell you that you should wait but…"

"But I'm not," Buffy finished. "I'm the Slayer and I'm gonna be hella lucky to reach my eighteenth birthday. And then there's the test the Watchers administer that day.  I'll be singing praises on high if I survive that."

"I will be too."  Stephanie stared at the girl she now considered to be her best friend. "Make your choice wisely, Buff."

"You better believe I will." The two girls hugged, Stephanie already knowing what choice her friend had made.  Then the Slayer walked off, bags slung over her shoulder, in search of Christian.

**Do I hold on, do I let go?**

**I know I can't escape tomorrow**

Looking across the concourse, she sighed.  Buffy knew exactly which plane was the one the wrestlers were on and she hated herself for it.  Hated that she regretted telling him no.  Hated that she'd told him no to what he'd asked to begin with. Most of all, she hated that she was leaving him to move to Boca Del Infernio. She shuddered because even the thought of the Hellmouth was enough to curdle her insides.

Hunters had a built in warning system regarding Hellmouths.  It was meant to deter unknowing Hunters from visiting or living on one.  However, when one's mother had decreed that they were going to have to override that instinct…Well, suffice to say that she wasn't a happy camper.

Buffy flipped open the small wallet Steph had given her before she'd left. Inside was the picture of her and Christian in Chicago. Christian had pulled her in for a kiss and Mark was scowling in the background. "I left you to protect you. Never forget that," she murmured to his image.

She heard the flight attendant start into the safety procedure lecture and almost burst into tears.

She was leaving him and she sure as hell didn't want to.

**Can I live for him and live for today?**

**Suddenly the sky looks far away (far away)**

**Suddenly the sky looks far away.**

**Far away. **

She looked around the school, trying with everything in her to ignore the warning system. She'd already heard that the librarian was new and British.  It didn't take a genius to figure out that her new Watcher had already arrived. 

Closing her eyes, the Hunter-turned-Slayer prayed to the Heavens that she had the ability to pull this one off.  There was no time like the present to begin at least.

Walking into the library, she politely told the librarian, "I'm the new girl.  I need books and I was told that this was like the place to find them."

Buffy about died of shock as he plopped a book titled Vampyres down in front of her. She had known he'd move fast, but she hadn't thought it would go this fast.

Let the games begin, she thought with an inward smirk.

_A/N: Well, what did you think? Review! Review! Then read the second one, Go Rest High on that Mountain, and review that and the third and fourth installments are on their way._


End file.
